Archive for the ‘cosmetics’ Category

IpsyOS Events Part 1: Intro & Dermalogica
Did you know that Michelle Phan (co-founder of the uber popular subscription service Ipsy which has well over 1.5 million monthly subscribers) opened up her dream studio for up and coming beauty content creators last year? And that those creators could use that space for free?!?

When I opened that email and saw that it said, “Hello Beautiful, Congrats” I seriously full on squealed!! (you know, like out loud) I was amazed that they thought my little piece of the internet was worthy.

And since I was accepted I have had the honor of attending 3 #ThirstyThursday events, 1 #WorkoutWednesday event, 1 #Cocktail Party for GenBeauty LA, and was given a complimentary #BeautyGuru #VIP pass for #GenBeauty LA!!

So just after a month after I was accepted into IpsyOS I attended my first event AT IpsyOS in Santa Moncia! This event was sponsored by Dermalogica and featured their new #CharcoaltotheRescue Charcoal Masque.
We were able to learn about how to use the other featured products and how often to use each based on our individual skin types. There was wonderful catered food and plenty of champagne, well the event IS called a #ThirstyThursday! [SIDE NOTE: Because I strongly believe in safe driving, I. Will. Never. Drink. One, Sip. Of. Alcohol. When. Driving. NOT EVER!]Dermalogica also had the incredibly talented @persianpainter at the event to create gorgeous charcoal drawings of us. I still need to get a frame so I can better display this near my vanity. I cannot remember ever having a portrait/caricature drawn of me where the artist spent that amount of detail!

Towards the end of the event we were each given a generous goodie bag that contained ALL of the products that were being featured! Included in each attendee bag from Dermalogica was their Pre-Cleanse, Special Cleansing Gel, Charcoal Rescue Masque, Multivitamin Power Recovery Masque, Skin Hydrating Masque and the cutest grey headband perfect for keeping my hair out of my face while washing my face for applying makeup!
I am so appreciative to Dermalogica for putting on such a fun evening. I was a bit nervous with this being my first event, but the majority of attendees and all of the IpsyOS and Dermalogica staff that I met were amazing!

Have you used Dermalogica? If so, what is your favorite product? And if not, what product would you want to try most?

All the best,
~Jaclyn~

If you are interested in trying Ipsy please consider using my referral link!

Please make sure you are following me on Instagram and Snapchat (jaclynsmusings)!!

Product Review & GIVEAWAY: Create Your Perfect Canvas by Mia Mariu
I recently had the pleasure of trying 3 products by Mia Mariu. I had heard of Mia Mariu before and so was quite excited when I received an email from them asking if I’d be interested in trying a few of their products. Of course I immediately jumped at the chance! And YOU can try your very own Create Your Perfect Canvas set by entering the giveaway below.
The first product I tried was Perfecting Finish Mineral Primer which has a very light feel to it. Since I wear makeup most days and need my makeup to stay put once applied, I always make sure to use a primer before applying foundation.
Finally, the third product I tried was one of their foundations. I had a choice between a few of their different foundations, but was quite curious to try a liquid mineral foundation as I hadn’t tried any (other than the new Bare Minerals Bare Skin Foundation. Because of the hot temperature as of late, my foundation in general has been melting off midday so I’m not entirely sure exactly how much I like this foundation just yet. Will have to continue to test it out.

Now on to how YOU could win your very own Mia Mariu Create Your Perfect Canvas set! Below you’ll find a Rafflecoptor widget. Just complete each ‘task’ to earn more entries! Winner will be notified by email and will have 24 hours in which to respond before a new winner will be chosen.

~Jaclyn~**Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. Please see my disclaimer policy for more information.

Welcome to my very first tutorial! I was contacted by Chrislie Formulations (the company that makes both Lashem and Measurable Difference products) about posting an eye makeup tutorial and I agreed! So when I received my April Starlooks’ Starbox and saw the 5 eyeshadow palette in Toyko I immediately knew what look I’d do.

I’ve never tried taking photos of my own eye while step wise putting on makeup, so please excuse any less than perfect pictures. If you like the idea of me posting more tutorials please let me know in the comments as I have a lot of ideas of tutorials from everyday looks I’ve been wearing. This look isn’t one I’d wear everyday, but it is one I have worn several times in the last week or so. It is perfect for a colorful, yet wearable spring look. Although if you live in Southern California then it is much more like Summer than Spring.

Without further ado, my very first tutorial featuring products from Lashem, Starlooks, and Measurable Difference!
Here is a list of all the products I’ll be using:

I always start with a clean face. I then went ahead and did my brows. If you’d like a post with several of the different ways I do my brows including more details on the way I mention briefly below, let me know in the comments.
I started by applying Lashem’s Picture Perfect Instant Wrinkle Reducer to my entire face and eye area.

I went ahead and filled in my brows by using Starlooks Eye Primer in Clear as a base to which I added the dark brown and a touch of the black shades from Starlooks’ Eyebrow Quad that was sent in the May 2013 Starbox.

Then I prepped my eyelid with Starlooks Eye Primer in Clear which you can see I’m almost out of. Of ALL the various eye primers I’ve tried, I reach for this one the most. It is also great to use on your brows as a base for brow powder. It works great! I find it is easiest to apply using a small concealer brush.
Then I used my Starlooks Medium Precision 812 brush to pack on the light golden shade (far left #1) in the Tokyo palette in the corner of my eye through first third of my eye lid and along the first third of the lower lash line.

Next using the same brush to sweep on the light green (middle shade #2) along the rest of the eye lid (below the crease).

After that I used the Starlooks Small Precision 813 to just pick up a little of the darker green shade (second from the left #3) as it is very pigmented and lightly sweep along the crease and in the outer V which provides some depth to the look. I also swept a little down onto the lower lash line.
Lastly, for the eyeshadow portion, still using the 813 brush to pick up a bit of the matte cranberry shade (far right #4) to place in the corner of the out V on top of the darker green shade. I also continued the cranberry shade down to the lower lash line.
I then used Measurable Difference’s Lash Amplifying Liquid Eyeliner (in black) to line the upper lash line. I don’t tend to line my lower lash line with anything other than shadow very often as I find it makes my eyes look even smaller than they already are.

Then I finished by adding Measurable Differences Instant Lash Extensions Mascara. This awesome mascara really does add length and volume to my lashes. The process is a bit more time consuming than just a quick swipe of mascara. To start you first apply a coat of the mascara as a base. Then you add a coat of the white fibers which are what truly add all the length and volume. I added a very generous coat to more dramatically show the difference. Afterwards, follow up with another coat of the mascara side of the dual ended wand.
There you have it! I’d LOVE to hear what you think in the comments!

~Jaclyn~

**Disclosure: One or more of the products listed above have been sent by the manufacturer or PR rep for the purpose of review. Please see my disclaimer policy for more information.**

Recently, I had the honor of trying Studio Gear’s New Hydrating CC Cream in the shade Linen. This CC Cream is available in 3 shades, Linen, Natural, and Wheat. I have to say that I’m not crazy about the name of the shade Natural as it insinuates that lighter or darker skin shades are not natural although I’m sure that was not their intention. All of these shades change color to exactly match your skin as you rub it in.

Like the name Linen suggests, it looks white when first squeezed from the tube. I happen to be a bit fan of this type of tinted moisturizer/foundation. I really do like this CC Cream. I’ve been experimenting with more natural foundation looks. If I wear this more as a tinted moisturizer under my foundation it stays on my skin just fine. But the few times I’ve tried wearing this by itself, I’ve found it slipping off in a few places (namely my nose, cheeks, and chin). That said it has been anywhere from 70 (if we’re lucky) to 95 (if we’re not) degrees in way too sunny Southern California.

The significantly higher than normal temperatures could certainly be playing a part in CC cream not staying on as long or well as I’d prefer. My roommate from college was over recently and I had her try a little bit on her skin to see how it blended. I have to say, I was a bit envious that it seemed to blend even better on her skin than mine! She is also very light skinned with golden to neutral undertones compared to my pale skin that has VERY pink/red undertones. Below can see how the CC cream looks upon first being placed o my skin. Then you can see the blending in transformation.

I really enjoyed the holiday palette I was lucky enough to review several months ago and really enjoy this product as well. So far I’m very impressed with Studio Gear. I very much hope to be able to try out (and review) more products from the Studio Gear line!

Guess what?!? Studio Gear has offered YOU, my followers, a special 10% off discount code for ANYTHING on their website www.studiogearcosmetics.com! Just use bloggercc to get this exclusive discount. And please let me know in the comments what you ordered!

My spring break was a couple weeks ago now, but my dad was off this past week and my sister is this week! When are you off for spring break? If you have some time off, do you have any plans? Please let me know in the comments!

I’m currently figuring out what I want do over summer break! I’ll give you an update once I figure it out myself.

~Jaclyn~

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using BrandBacker.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. All opinions are mine. Please see my disclaimer policy for more information.

Hi Lovelies!
Recently my sister and I made our own lipsticks mostly using readily available household items. Thanks to a craft supply sponsorship from Wholeport.com we had empty chapstick type twist up cylinders to use. We also used empty sample containers from Sephora.

I highly recommend ONLY using Crayola crayons as they are completely non-toxic with numerous studies done that prove that on average a toddler will consume upwards of 2 crayons a month with no ill effects. There have also been studies done that show that women who wear lipstick daily consume upwards of 2-3 whole lipsticks a year!

That is enough reason to make sure that my lip products ONLY contain ingredients that are suitable for ingestion. So I’d been seeing many posts and videos online of others creating their own lipsticks using crayons as their pigment (and wax blend) and had been wanting to try it.

We decided to use a combination of coconut oil, 100% vanilla extract, and/or honey. One advantage of making our own lipsticks was that we could choose what ever color or blend of colors available in a standard box of 64 Crayola crayons! I will say that in the future, I’d use a higher ratio of crayon to lipstick base and experiment with using other oils, waxes, and/or pre-made bases.

First step: Wash all containers to be filled with 70% or 90% isopropyl alcohol and allow to air dry. The higher the concentration, the faster it will dry!

Second step: Unwrap crayons to be used and assemble base ingredients.

Third step: Set up a double boiler by placing a metal bowl into a pot of boiling water.

Fifth step: Melt crayon (break each crayon into several pieces first to speed up melting) We used approximately 1 whole crayon per lipstick, but I’d use closer to 2 crayons per lipstick next time for higher opacity.

Sixth step: Pour into container then carefully place in the refrigerator for at least 10+ minutes until firm.

Seventh step: Enjoy your new custom made lipstick!!

I wanted to say THANK YOU to Wholeport.com for sponsoring me and providing the twist up containers. Want to order some of your own? Click HERE to be taken to the page where you can purchase the same containers I used in this tutorial.

I’m going to be trying to post a new craft every month (or two) using supplies I receive from Wholeport.com

Have you tried making your own lipstick or other cosmetics? I’d love to hear about your crafty cosmetics escapades in the comments below!

~Jaclyn~

Disclaimer: I received one or more items mentioned above from Wholeport.com as part of a craft sponsorship program in hopes that the supplies I receive will be used in craft projects mentioned on this blog. All opinions are mine. Please see my disclaimer policy for more information.